Passports in Port

[sparks1093]

And, as you have likely experienced, many itineraries require the ship to take and keep your passport for most of the cruise.

 

 

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No, the first cruise we took with our passports was in the Caribbean and they don't collect passports for there (our second cruise with passports is coming up in November and that's also a Caribbean itinerary, albeit western). We fly to Europe for land vacations, not cruises, but I do understand that on many European cruises they do collect passports (but probably not all).

[Thrilled2012]

You shouldn't say you would never miss the ship. You would if there was a medical emergency.

 

We always take our passports with us if we get off the ship. We never know if one of us might have a heart attack, or have some other kind of medical emergency. I would rather have them with us and not need them instead of needing them and they are back on the ship.

 

And, yet again, if you miss the ship...the ship will collect documents from your safe and leave them with port authorities. So if your passport is in the cabin safe and you have a heart attack and cannot make it back to the ship..you will still have your passport.

 

No, the first cruise we took with our passports was in the Caribbean and they don't collect passports for there (our second cruise with passports is coming up in November and that's also a Caribbean itinerary, albeit western). We fly to Europe for land vacations, not cruises, but I do understand that on many European cruises they do collect passports (but probably not all).

 

There was no need to take passports off of the ship for our Western Med itinerary (Rome, Naples, Cannes, Florence/Pisa, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca). Our passports stayed right in the safe.

 

Earlier somebody mentioned that they always keep their passports with them on a cruise just like they do every time they are on foreign soil for land vacations, such as Europe. I spent 4 months in Italy and then traveled around Europe after that. I also lived in St Maarten for several years. I have gone other places abroad but I mention these because they were for extended periods of time. I can promise you that there was absolutely no reason for me to bring my passport with me every time I left the house and neither did the many of other Americans in the same situation as me. If it were to be needed, an authority could go to my house to retrieve it. On a cruise, if I missed the ship, my passport will be left with authorities. As I mentioned earlier....when my passport was completely lost in west Africa, I had a photocopy and the US Embassy was able to retrieve the needed documents easier based upon the paperwork that I was able to provide them. I don't agree at all that having a photocopy, picture or passport card is "worthless". It, of course, is nowhere near as good as having the original though.

[estillcrew]

Do you/should we take our passports with us when we go into Port?

 

We actually just got off the Magic and had to show a photo ID (everyone over 16) with our sign and sail card at every port except Grand Turk when we wanted to get back on the ship. We were told ahead of time to make sure that we had a photo ID and sign and sail card before we got off of the ship. There were security guards checking our sign and sail card against our photo ID at St. Thomas, San Juan, and Amber Cove. I even saw one person have trouble getting past security. They made her take off her hat and take her hair out of a ponytail. These people were stationed at the port gates, not inside the ship.

We had never experienced this before, so we weren't sure if it was something happening just that week or if it was a new policy at these ports. So, we always took our passports with us.

[h_blond2]

Everyone has a different opinion on this, but we always have ours with us.

[Jamericannn]

Not always. If we are just a walk away from the ship then no. We do if we are going anywhere that is more than 15 minutes away from the ship.